Shaune Ritchie, who trains the mare in partnership with Colm Murray, was trackside on Sunday and said the race was on their radar last year but he was pleased they held off to let her mature.
“We were tempted to try and get her here last year but I’m pleased we didn’t,” Ritchie said. “She wasn’t quite strong enough, but she was strong enough [on Sunday], wasn’t she? She was fantastic three starts back in the lead-up race.”
Ritchie was full of praise for the race concept, which was run in front of a massive crowd on Sunday, and believes it has a bright future.
“This is a wonderful thing Bill Gibbons has started here, and good luck to them. The momentum’s picking up and I think we’ll need a lot better horses in the future, I’d say, to win races like this.”
Rawiller was just as animated with the result, particularly when it was achieved on a good surface.
“I was doing a rain dance all week but we got it on the wrong side of the state,” Rawiller said. “But she didn’t need the rain — she was so dominant, she’s a real athlete.
“I’m so lucky, my first sit on the horse and she’s come to the races like that. I’ll get the accolades but she was a real sit and steer job.”
The Jericho Cup was established to commemorate the feats of Australasia’s light horse units during World War I and is restricted to horses bred in Australia or New Zealand.
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